BALTIMORE — Joey Wendle hadn’t hit a home run since June 9, and that gap of 50 games created plenty of opportunity for teasing, as manager Kevin Cash is wont to do with his affable infielder.
On Sunday, Wendle answered back, hitting two homers — a solo shot and a grand slam — as part of a career-best six-RBI day to lead the Rays to a 12-8 victory over the Orioles.
The Rays definitely did their part in handling the lowly O’s, completing a season thrashing in which they won 18 of the 19 games, and outscored them 150-71. In doing so, the Rays tied the major-league record for wins against a division opponent in a season.
Now the Rays have a chance to ruin the season for the rival Red Sox, with the potential to all but knock them out of the American League East race, as they meet seven times over the next 10 days starting Monday night at Tropicana Field.
Wendle’s two homers, another from Austin Meadows and Jordan Luplow, plus four solid innings from Chris Archer in his second post-injury start, led the Rays to their seventh straight win. They improved their AL-best record to 82-48 and, at the least, maintained a five-game division lead over the Yankees, who played later at Oakland.
More relevant to the immediate future, Tampa Bay is seven games ahead of Boston, and with five or six wins in the seven games could push the Sox to a double-digit deficit and leave them competing just for a wild-card spot.
Manager Kevin Cash said before the game that the Rays had “no idea” what to expect from Archer, who last Sunday made his first appearance since an April 10 elbow injury but left after two innings due to hip soreness.
Archer went four strong against the Orioles, allowing two runs on four hits and a walk. He struck out six, hit 95 mph a couple of times and threw 59 pitches, 41 for strikes.
The Rays certainly didn’t expect the power show from Wendle, whose drought without a homer had reached 181 at-bats, second longest of his career.
They were clinging to a 3-2 lead when rookie Wander Franco singled to open the sixth, extending his majors-leading on-base streak to 29 games, sixth longest in MLB league history for players 20 and under and second longest in the AL behind Hall of Famer Mickey Mantle’s 36 over the 1951-52 seasons.
Meadows hit a two-run homer, giving him 22 for the season and 91 RBIs. And Wendle followed with a solo shot to make it 6-2.
The Rays rallied again in the seventh, such as it was, loading the bases against Paul Fry with a single and two walks. Wendle then delivered the big blow, his second grand slam this season and third of his career, giving the Rays an AL-most nine for the season.
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